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| ~ The signature sound effect used in comic narration for activation of Jericho's powers |
Jericho is a minor hero in the Teen Titans media. He is a handsome mute blond boy who lives in the mountains and plays the guitar.
Jericho's main power is giving eye contact to his enemies and jump into their bodies to control them.
Background
Joseph is the son of the supervillain Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke and H.I.V.E. headmistress Adeline Kane Wilson. Slade has used many chemical enhancements and bioengineering over the years to make himself the enhanced super-solider threat he is, such augmentation however lead his genetic material to become highly volatile and mutated, this lead to his son Joesph being born with mutant powers. Adeline and Slade were seperated when Adeline found out Slade was a supervillain and prompted her to eventually give up command of H.I.V.E. and for years Joseph had no idea who his father was and neither Slade nor Adeline had any idea at the time that their son was born a mutant. Joseph discovered his powers at a young age though when his friend was injured, Joseph tried to get him to the hospital but his friend was unable to make it, without meaning to Jericho possessed his friend and walked him into a hospital to get medical attention, Joseph neither knew what he had done nor how it had occurred but it traumatized him for many years and he would never use his powers again until his mother's life was in danger.
Joseph took up the codename "Jericho" during years spent receiving the training of Searchers Inc., a mercenary group his mother founded after leaving H.I.V.E., however since his mother did not know about his latent powers the training he received was purely martially focused. One day an assassin was sent to kill Adeline and though Joseph saw the assassin he was unable to reach him in time on his own, the panic triggered his powers a second time and he projected himself into the assassin's body saving his mother. Once his mother saw Jericho she immediately set up testing to trace the sorce of his ability and once she found out he was a mutant she revealed to him who his father was and began using her years as H.I.V.E. headmistress to teach Jericho to access and control his powers. Adeline and Jericho eventually made contact with Dick Grayson AKA Nightwing in his attempts to find and catch Deathstroke. Both were eager to wash their hands of Deathstroke's legacy and felt helping Nightwing was the best way to do that. Though Nightwing was skeptical at first that Jericho could even handle himself in a fight Adeline had Jericho demonstrate his powers by possessing Nightwing and having him beat himself up. After seeing his powers Nightwing's trepidation was dispeled and Jericho joined him in the fight against Deathstroke. After the mission was completed Jericho opted to continue working with Nightwing and his team the Teen Titans and for years was active member.
Fallen Titan
Though Jericho has had many girlfriends he soon became the steady boyfriend of the Titan, Raven and empathized since they both felt the weight of their fathers' evil upon them. In an effort to help Raven Jericho possessed her to help her fight Trigon when he tried to use her to claw his way into the world. With Jericho's help Raven fought off Trigon's attempted arrivial but being exposed to Trigon planted an evil in Jericho's heart as the spirit of Azarath, Raven's birth realm who themselves had been overtaken by Trigon's evil, possessed Jericho. The spirits of Azarath lay dormant at first in Jericho and for years no one, includeing him, knew they were there, however after years spent gestating in his body the spirits of Azarath eventually took complete control of him and used Jericho's powers have him body-hop from one Titan to the next and eventually into the Wilderbeest Society leaving behind an Azarath spirit in each body. Nightwing and Deathstroke teamed up to stop Jericho and the hoard of possessed Wilderbeests the spirits of Azarath were using as bodies before they could take over the world. When encountered Jericho briefly came to his senses and asked that they kill him, though Nightwing was committed to a non-lethal take-down Deathstroke did not see that as an option and put his son out of his misery by killing him.
Unknown to Slade for many years Jericho had instinctively possessed him and was laying dormant in his subconscious regaining his strength just as the spirits of Azarath had done to Joseph. Slade found out about the situation and tried to have Jericho exorcised before he woke up however the process inadvertently served to wake Jericho up and Deathstroke soon became completely possessed by Jericho who was still corrupted by the spirits of Azarath."Deathstroke" fought the Titans but soon revealed he was really Jericho and after being defeated simply left Deathstroke to possesses the Titans and make one after another Titan fight eachother. Eventually Raven took Jericho into her body and trapped him there, for the reason the spirits of Azarath had not possessed Raven in the first place was because the threat of Trigon's demonic possession had long sense made Raven seeks methods of restraining spiritual possession.
The Titans would eventually steal technology from the super-villain, Brotherblood, that allowed mind downloads onto computer disks and the Titan, Cyborg, would use it to download Jericho out of Raven's mind and onto a disk to give her some relief until a practical method of exorcising Jericho could be found. Raven eventually did discover a ritual to return Jericho to normal and after using it Jericho was restored to his normal self. Jericho took a sabbatical from the Titans though to come to terms with the years spent possessed by the spirits of Azarath and though they were gone Jericho spent years afflicted by an on again off again dementia from the experience.
Teen Titans TV series
Jericho from the Teen Titans TV series
Jericho is one of many superheroes contacted as part of the expanded team when the Titans get ready to fight the Brotherhood of Evil in the Teen Titans cartoon show. The Brotherhood pirate the Titans' own communication network in order to track down each and every honorary Titan to pick them off separately. Jericho is one of the few members to fight off his attackers and reunites with the remaining members lead by Beast Boy. Jericho uses his powers to hijack the villain Cinderblock and get his friends in possing as Cinderblock's captives.
Once inside the remaining Titans free their imprisoned comrades and defeat the Brotherhood. Jericho only appears in the two episodes towards the end of the series spent fighting the Brotherhood and so relatively little about his past is touched upon including his link to the show's mainstay antagonist Slade.
Personality
Jericho's in his purest state is kind, gentle and sensitive, even with his Searchers Inc. military training his mother would frequently complain he was too nice for his own good. Prior to hooking up with Raven Jericho had numerous relations with girls and in the 1980s issues was characterized by being a sensitive ladies-man. Even after meeting Raven Jericho has had several admirers though he remained in a committed relationship with Raven despite said admirers. Until his possession though Jericho was good-natured and always willing to help his friends at a moment's notice. After being freed of the spirits of Azarath Jericho was left with several traits of dementia being insecure, suspicious and bi-polar however after years of coming to terms with mental issues Jericho eventually left his angst behind and returned to a his original pure-hearted self. In recent years, though Joseph is no longer demented, he is also no longer his demure and overly-sensitive former-self, though he is just as brave and caring as ever.
Powers
Jericho has the power to phase into and instantly possess people upon making eye contact with them. At first Jericho could only take control of his hosts motor functions leaving them conscious and still able to talk but otherwise unable to control their limbs and movements. Over the years Jericho's possession power has expanded to the point where he can completely overshadow his hosts cutting off their consciousness completely while possessing them and effectively inhabiting another's body as if it were his own. The nature of these possession has always been rather a case of body-control over mind-control, as while in a body Jericho can do things like see that his hosts feel any pain inflicted on their bodies while he remains unharmed or walk on broken limbs as if they were perfectly functional. Aside from his mutant power Jericho has H.I.V.E. grade martial training allowing him to maintain an elite fighting style that gives him far above average agility and skilled hand-to-hand combat, no matter whose body he is in.
Trivia
- Jericho was originally mute though over time his vocal cords were eventually repaired allowing his to speak, though even before that he developed the power to speak while in another's body.
- Whenever in his own body great detail was put into drawing Jericho using sign language and he is still fluent.
- Aside from Raven, Jericho also had an on off again tryst with the Titan, Kole.
- Though Jericho was originally envisioned as being the token gay member of the Titans the writers scarped the idea, ironically not for fear of the controversy of a gay character but rather because they were afraid that making the team's overly sensitive charismatic musician and artist turn out to be gay might offend the gay community and so contrary to being gay Jericho was defined as not only straight but a Casanova.
Gallery
